Gwen
Gwen smiled over at Mordred as they walked down the aisle together, after having just being married. She moved a hand to wipe away a tear as they got into the pale blue and white 54 chevy.
Once they were in the car, Gwen kissed Mordred sweetly.
"I love you."
Mordred
"I love you as well, Gwen Llewlyn," Mordred murmured back to her. "I can't express how happy I am." He kissed her back, then got into the driver's seat of the car.
Gwen
"Sounds so odd," Gwen mused. "But in a good way."
She looked over at him while he started to drive and she smiled, feeling so much love for him.
Mordred
"I would hope so," Mordred said cheekily. "But Gwen's a Welsh name, didn't you know? My wife...sounds a bit odd to me, but at the same time, knowing it's you makes me so very happy." He turned to smile at her, then refocused on the road. "Vort and Spike said they'd look after Fao, so we don't need to worry about him while we're on honeymoon...where do you feel like going?"
Gwen
"Awww."
Gwen grinned.
"Yeah, sounds so... new. Husband. Whoa. But I like it."
She looked out the window at the passing scenary.
"Not sure... Florence? Florence is always nice."
Mordred, Vortigern and Spike
"Never been," Mordred said cheerfully. "But if you like it, I bet that I will as well..."
Suddenly, as they reached the crossroads of a street, a car came out of nowhere.
It hit the side of the Chevy, and Mordred went flying through the windscreen to land with a crack of breaking bones.
Vortigern whitened, and then collapsed. Spike grabbed his lover before he could hit the floor. "LUV?!"
Gwen
"MORDRED!"
Gwen screamed as the car hit her side and she felt her legs crush under the dashboard. She raised her hands instinctively shileding her face, the glass shattering and flying into her body, cutting her face and arms.
A sharp stabbing pain in her back and then it all went black.
Mordred, Vortigern and Spike
"Merde! Allons-y!" A frightened voice said, and the car that had hit the newly wedded couple, backed up and drove away in a screech of tires.
Mordred tried to get up, to check on Gwen, then passed out from the pain.
Spike tried to bring Vortigern around, Faolan huddled under a table howling. "Vort? Vort? Come around, luv, tell me, what's happened?!"
An ambulance and a police car arrived in a wail of sirens.
Gwen
"Nous avons une femelle, sans connaissance." (We have one female, unconscious.)
Gwen could hear voices around her, could sense the movement of people, but she couldn't feel anything. She needed Mordred, where was Mordred? He'd make it all better again.
Mordred
Mordred moaned as someone lifted him and opened pain hazed blue eyes.
"Il est conscient. Attachez ses nervures, et vérifiez la possibilité de dommages spinaux. Monsieur? Monsieur? Pouvez-vous m'entendre?" (He's conscious. Strap his ribs, and check for the possibility of spinal damage. Sir? Sir? Can you hear me?)
"Gwen..." Mordred managed to get out.
"Ah, you are English? Don't worry sir, everything's going to be fine...obtenons ces deux à l'hôpital. Vérifiez l'identification et informez le prochain des parents. Juste au cas où. Et quelqu'un découvrent qui a frappé ces personnes!" (Let's get these two to the hospital. Check for identification and notify the next of kin. Just in case. And someone find out who hit these people!)
Gwen
Gwen could hear movement around, she could hear talking, hear them walking, and somehow felt herself be pried out of where she was, the cool air stinging the cuts on her arms, legs and face. She felt herself be laid down on a bed, and she opened her eyes, squinting in the bright light.
"Elle est éveillée. Mlle? Pouvez-vous m'entendre? Nous vous portons à l'hôpital." (She's awake. Miss? Can you hear me? We're taking you to the hospital.)
Gwen's eyes darted around wildly, searching out Mordred, but she couldn't see him. And then she passed out again.
Mordred and Spike
"Gwen, where's Gwen?" Mordred moaned, moving his arms and legs weakly as he was transported to the ambulance.
"Il va se blesser, se déplaçant autour comme cela. Je suggère que nous lui donnions des sédatifs." (He's going to hurt himself, moving around like that. I suggest we sedate him.)
Mordred felt the prick of a needle against his arm and he sank into the darkness.
Spike heard his mobile ringing and snatched it up. "Hello?"
"Is this...a Mr William de Sang?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"There's been an accident..."
Gwen
Gwen opened her eyes suddenly, needing to see Mordred. She opened her mouth to scream for him, but she couldn't, all she could do was cough up blood.
"Mordred... Mordred?" she called in a pained voice.
Her eyes closed again and she stopped moving on the stretcher as she was put into the ambulance next to Mordred.
Spike, Faolan and the Mavericks
The two ambulances drove to the hospital, sirens blaring and lights flashing.
Spike gave the care of the senseless Vortigern and wailing Faolan to Demetria and got a cab to the hospital.
Mordred could feel the darkness pressing down on him, and he couldn't move, he couldn't find his Gwen...
Gwen
Gwen could feel herself losing it. She didn't know where she was, or why she couldn't feel anything, except for a searing pain in her back. She couldn't feel her legs, couldn't feel her arms, anything. Where was she? Why was she moving? Where was Mordred? She needed Mordred! He'd make it all better again...
Mordred and Spike
Mordred reached out, halfdead with pain and fear. And he found her.
Gwen? Gwen love? Is that you? It's so dark I can't tell...
Spike arrived at the hospital and threw money at the cabby as he sped towards the entrance.
Gwen
"Mordred? It's dark. And it hurts..." Gwen whimpered.
She couldn't see, why couldn't she see? Where was she? Why was she hurting?
"It hurts, why does it hurt? Where are you, I need you, Mordred, you'll make it better, please, come find me, please."
Mordred and Spike
I, I know, love. Mordred bit back his own moan of pain as the stretcher shifted.
"J'ai besoin de deux unités de sang, statut! Employez l'universel. À l'écart, le besoin ces deux d'être vérifié plus de tout de suite!"
Spike ran up to where they were unloading Mordred. "I'm next of kin. What happened?"
"A car accident," the orderly answered him briefly as they put an IV tune into Mordred's arm to start replacing the blood he lost.
I can't. I don't know where my body is! It's so dark, so dark...but I'm here, love. I'm here, cariad. I love you.
Gwen
"I love you... oh God... it hurts, oh God..."
Gwen's arm twitched as they started to wheel her stretcher away from Mordred, inserting the IV tube into her.
"Elle récupère un grand tesson de verre dans elle. Elle est insensible." (She has a large shard of glass in her back. She is unresponsive.)
"I love you..." Gwen whimpered before she faded out.
Mordred and Spike
GWEN! GWEN! Gwen, where are you?! Mordred shouted into the void, his thoughts swallowed up.
"Je pense que seulement ses nervures et un bras est cassé. Mais entrez-la dans la chirurgie tout de suite." (I think only his ribs and an arm is broken. But move her into surgery right away.)
"What's going on?" Spike demanded as the nurses took charge of Gwen and Mordred.
"Sir, please try to be patient. We'll tell you as soon as we have any news."
Spike gaped as the two limp bodies moved out of sight, then turned and sent his fist through a wall. "BLOODY HELL!"
Gwen
Gwen opened her eyes only to close them again, squinting in the bright light streaming in through the window.
"Ah, vous êtes vers le haut," The nurse trilled.(Ah, you are up.)
"Where..." Gwen strained to make sense of everything, and tried to remember the language. "Où suis-je?" (Where am I?)
"Dans l'hôpital. Vous avez juste eu la chirurgie." (In the hospital. You have just had surgery.)
"Pourquoi est-ce que je ne peux pas sentir mes jambes? Que se produit? Où est Mordred?" Gwen asked in a panicked voice. (Why can't I feel my legs? What's happening? Where is Mordred?)
"Le docteur sera dedans bientôt." (The doctor will be in soon.)
"Mordred!" Gwen called frantically.
Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred glared at the doctor. "Where's my wife?"
"She is recovering, please, just sit down..."
"Mordred, please," Vortigern pleaded.
"Why won't anyone tell me what the F*CK is going on?! Where the hell is Gwen? What's happened?!"
"Mordred..."
Mordred stared at them all, then 'ported. "Gwen?!" He stumbled to her bedside, wincing at the soreness in his chest, bandages covering his face and one arm in a sling.
Gwen
Gwen turned her head painfully to see Mordred. She reached weakly for his hand.
"Mordred?"
She coughed, feeling the pain reverberate through her body.
"What... you're hurt!"
Mordred
Mordred took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. "They wouldn't tell me what had happened..."
He laid her hand back down on the covers and tightened his fingers briefly around the top of her leg.
"I'm fine. Really. Just a bit banged up. What about you?"
Gwen
Gwen looked blankly down at Mordred's hand on her leg. She couldn't feel it. Why couldn't she feel it?
Tears welled in her eyes as she felt the panic rise in her chest.
"I can't feel that... Mordred... I can't feel your hand on my leg."
Mordred
"Oh, oh god, Gwen..." Mordred felt the realisation hit himm with the force of a sledgehammer and he couldn't breathe. He could just look at her. No. No. No. This couldn't be happening.
He almost blacked out before he remembered to breathe.
Gwen
The doctor came in at that moment, and Gwen turned to him with panic stricken eyes.
"What's happened to me?" she asked.
"You've just had surgery, and we had to remove quite a large shard of glass from your back."
Gwen's hand tightened around Mordred's. "I... I can't feel my legs."
"Yes, we were afraid that the glass had done it's damage before we could remove it."
"What do you mean? You... you can fix it right? I... this is just a... no, this can't..." Gwen trailed off as she realised what this meant. She couldn't walk. Couldn't do anything.
Mordred and Spike
"Fix her!" Mordred hissed, his hand coming up to grip the doctor's throat. "I don't care, just fix her!"
Spike grabbed his hand before he hurt the man. "Wolf, don't. He can't...there's nothing he can do."
"DAMMIT, there should be! Gwen, oh god, Gwen..." Mordred sank to his knees beside his wife of a day and wept.
Gwen
"So... this is it?" Gwen asked, tears pouring down her face, a hand going out to soothingly rub Mordred's back.
"I'm afraid not. We had hoped that we were successful, but..."
"So am I never going to walk again?" Gwen closed her eyes, not really wanting to know the answer.
"There is a possibility of that, yes. However, sometimes, very rarely, I don't want to get your hopes up... but in some cases, the feeling comes back. However, in this instance..."
"It's... not... likely..." Gwen whispered, feeling like someone had knocked the wind out of her. Her hand never left Mordred's back. Why now? Why did this have to happen? He didn't deserve a paralysed wife. Maybe she should just leave... somehow.
"I'm sorry."
Gwen nodded and turned her head away.
"We'll need to keep you here for a few days, of course, to check your progress, make sure... that everything is ok."
Gwen wiped her tears away with her free hand.
She was paralysed.
Mordred
"I love you, I love, you, I love you," Mordred chanted over and over. "I'm not leaving you, I love you, Gwen..."
Spike got the doctor and pushed him out of the room. "Let them have a couple of minutes. They only got married yesterday..."
"Le Bon Dieu..."
"Somehow, I don't think he's listening."
The door closed behind them.
Gwen
A waterfall of tears cascaded from Gwen's eyes as she turned to look at her husband.
"I love you... Mordred... oh God, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I have to be like this... so... pathetic, I'm sorry, I love you so much."
She buried her head in her hands.
"I can't... I can't walk, oh God."
Mordred
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault!" Mordred insisted through his own tears. "We'll get through this, we will. The only way we can. Together. I love you, Gwen, whether you can walk or not."
Gwen
Gwen's tears fell harder and more frequently.
"Oh God..."
She reached over to kiss his head.
"I love you... I'm so... why... oh God, it hurts, this hurts so much. Mordred, I love you, oh God, I love you."
Mordred
"Oh god, why? Damn you, why? Why did you have to do this to her, to us?" Mordred pressed his face into the bedspread, shoulders shaking with sobs. "Oh god, *Gwen*, I love you, I love you, I love you...I should've seen the car, or something. God, this is my fault, I'm sorry, so sorry, love..."
Gwen
"No, Mordred, no! Not your fault, never!" Gwen cried, her voice cracking with emotion.
She closed her eyes, wishing with all her might that when she opened them it would just have been a bad dream.
"I love you, I love you so much, Mordred, oh God."
Gwen turned her head away from Mordred, trying to be strong for him, they needed someone to be strong, but it wasn't working. Her control was fading. She couldn't move, couldn't do *anything*.
Mordred
Mordred heaved in a breath, and wiped his eyes. "Right." He swallowed. "I'm going to find the bastards who did this to you, and make it take ages for them to die."
Gwen
Gwen tried to smile, tried so hard, but she couldn't. She leaned down and kissed the top of his head, then looked away. She couldn't bare for him to see the pain in her eyes.
She couldn't walk. Why had this happened? Why was she so helpless? Why, why, why, why?
Mordred
"There is nothing, Gwen, *nothing*," Mordred's voice broke for a moment, "nothing that can make me love you less. I still love you as much today as I did yesterday. You're not helpless. You're a strong and capable woman, and we'll beat this. We will." He kissed her hand.
Gwen
"I..." Gwen choked back a sob, taking his hand in hers and squeezing tightly. "I love you."
She looked at him, her lips quivering as she tried to accept the situation.
And then it truly hit her, like it hadn't before. She was *paralysed*.
"Oh God, no!" Gwen cried.
Mordred
"Shhh, love, I know, I know..." Mordred hugged her shoulders carefully, not wanting to hurt her anymore then she already was. "I love you. We'll get through this. We will."
God, where was Nyx when you needed her?
Gwen
Gwen wrapped her bandaged arms around Mordred, careful to avoid his own bandages and sling, and burst into a heavy round of tears.
"It's not fair, not fair, oh... it hurts, Mordred, I can't move..."
She closed her eyes, then opened them to stare at her legs, willing them to feel, willing them to move, even just a twitch.
Nothing.
"Oh God..."
The door opened and the doctor hesitantly walked back in.
"Uh, Mr Lwellyn? Ah, if I could... she really does need her rest."
Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred lifted his head to snarl at the doctor. "Sod off!"
"Mordred..." his twin appeared at the door, pale and shaking. "C;mon. You need to sleep as well..."
"I'm not leaving her," Mordred quietly insisted. "And you really can't make me."
"Mordred, she needs to rest, she can't do that if you're hovering over her..." Vortigern stood his ground.
Gwen
The doctor looked taken aback. "Mr Lwellyn... perhaps, perhaps we could find you another bed to put in this room? But she really needs to rest."
Gwen quiet sobs had turned into loud wails as she struggled to accept her fate.
Mordred and Vortigern
Mordred kissed her hands, eyes never leaving her face. "I'm not leaving her. I can kip just fine on a matress on the floor."
Vortigern bit his lip. "If you could do that, that would be good..."
Mordred tried to comfort his wife, holding his own grief in check.
Gwen
"Don't leave me," Gwen whispered desperately. "I couldn't stand it if you left me too."
She wanted to run out of the hospital, but she couldn't. She'd never be able to again.
She let out another loud cry.
"It's not f*cking fair!" she screamed, swearing a rare occurrence for her.
Mordred and Vortigern
"I know, love, I know..." Mordred tried to soothe her.
The doctor left to get a bed, shaking his head slightly.
"Wolf..."
"Vort, there's just nothing you can say." Mordred kissed the tears from Gwen's cheeks. "I love you, Gwen. I'm not leaving you. Not now. Not ever."
Gwen
Gwen shook her head.
"Why, why, why? I don't want to be this way, I can't... it can't be happening, why?" Gwen's lips quivered as more tears spilled from her eyes.
She looked around the room in desperation, looking into Vort's eyes, into Spike's, Mordred's, someone who would make this better. Someone who would make this alright. Someone who would take the pain away.
The doctor re-entered, wheeling another bed in. He wheeled it over the other side of Gwen and placed it next to her, and took the bars down, then locked the wheels in place. He left again.
Mordred, Spike and Vortigern
"I don't know why," Mordred whispered around the lump in his throat.
Spike hugged Vortigern to him and thanked God his boy hadn't been in that car.
Gwen
Gwen let out a loud shriek and a bolt of electricity hit the opposite wall.
"NOT FAIR!"
She buried her head in her hands.
"WHY? WHY NOT JUST LET ME DIE?!"
Her shoulders shook as her crying became heavier.
"Why just take it away like that? Why? Oh God, Mordred, why? Please tell me, please have an answer, please, please, please know how to fix this, please... you have to fix this, please."
Mordred and Vortigern
"I don't know, love, but I wish I did. It should be me, should've been me..." Mordred shook his head as he stroked her forehead.
"We'll...go and tell Demetria and Faolan that you're awake now," Vortigern said and the two others slipped out.
"I don't have any answers. And god, I wish I did..." Mordred swallowed against the lump in his throat.
Gwen
"It just..."
Gwen fell silent, her eyes closed, a pained expression across her face.
"It's... this can't be real."
Mordred
"God, Gwen..." Mordred shook his head, speechless. He didn't knwo how to help her, and there were no words that could make her feel better. "It is, love. I wish it weren't but there ya are. God, I'm so sorry..."
Gwen
"Don't be sorry."
Gwen ran a hand weakly across his face.
"I love you, and we're both..." She choked back a sob. "Both alive. And that's all that matters."
Mordred
Mordred flinched slightly as her fingers ran across a row of stitches. "We're still together. And maybe..." He shook his head slightly, not wanting to get her hopes up. "I don't know...maybe there's a spell? SOmething, anything..."
Gwen
Gwen looked away, out the window.
"Maybe."
Her tears started again.
"When can we go home?"
Mordred
"Soon as the doctors say you can." Modred kissed her hand. "We'll go back to America as soon as possible."
Gwen
"Where... where are we going to stay, we'll need..."
Gwen swallowed hard, not wanting to say the next part of the sentence.
"We'll need to have new... for... me..."
Mordred
"Oh, oh god..." Mordred's voice died away into a whisper. "Anything you need. Maybe...maybe we should stay at the mansion, for a bit. While we get a new place together..." Cos they're already set up for the professor...
Gwen
"Yeah," Gwen said sullenly.
She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath.
"Great."
She wanted to roll over and bury herself under the covers, but she couldn't. She not only couldn't feel her legs but as soon as she moved an inch, her back felt like it was going to rip open.
Mordred
"I love you..." Mordred buried his face in his hand again. Couldn't let her see the hollow pits of despair he knew his eyes had become. "We'll get through this, love."
Gwen
Gwen bit her lip, wincing as she touched a cut. It was so unfair, they'd just gotten married, and now... and he was hurting. She could feel it, she knew he was hurting. He was all banadaged, and stitched, this was unfair. Her love, he was in pain and she couldn't do anything to help him.
"I love you too," she said softly.
Mordred
"We'll...we'll just stay here a day and a night. I can take us back tomorrow, alright? Let the others get all out stuff together...I'm sure Dr McCoy can treat you just as well, if not better. And it's not like when I port I actually have to move you." Mordred rubbed his eyes.
Gwen
"Yeah. Not like..."
Gwen clenched one of her hands.
"Yeah. I'm kinda tired."
Mordred
"Ok, ok." Mordred lifted his head. "Rest, love." He moved onto the bed next to her, hissing slightly when he banged his arm. "We'll get out of here in the morning..."